Tokiya Mikagami
Tokiya Mikagami (水鏡凍季也 Mikagami Tokiya) is the oldest member of Team Hokage. He owns Ensui, a sword that uses water. Mikagami's goal is to find his sister's murderer, because she was killed in front of his eyes. He is very protective when it comes to Yanagi Sakoshita, because she reminds him of his older sister who was murdered. He is known as Dylan in the Filipino dub of the anime. Appearance Tokiya in thin, and even somewhat frail looking, and has been mistaken for a woman multiple times in the series (e.g. by Hanemaru and Ganko), much to his annoyance. He is also quite attractive, as proven by his numerous female fans. In the manga and video games, Mikagami has long, spiky, light blue hair and pale skin. The anime changed his hair color to gray. In his initial appearance, his hair is tied in a low ponytail but in the Kurei Mansion arc and onward, his hair is tied in a high ponytail. Early in the series, his hair was flat, but grew spiky at the top over time. He claims his hair is long as to bring him good luck. Although his outfit varies throughout the series, he often times either wears a black jacket or a baggy, tank top. Personality Tokiya is the most intelligent and calculating member of Hokage. He is quite intelligent in multiple ways, and has been called a genius by his sensei Meguri Kyoza, and is academically gifted as well. In battle, he treats all of his enemies equally, and is not afraid to strike a female down, something he has reprimanded Recca for being too weak to do. He is also a talented tactician, being able to memorize how an opponents techniques work and coming up with methods of shutting them down. At his core, for about half of the series, Tokiya is a young man motivated solely by revenge. Witnessing the death of his older sister changed Tokiya from being a normal boy to a revenge driven swordsman. To this end, Tokiya is the most cruel member of Hokage, something that even Kurei noted, as well as the cold-blooded Mikoto recognized. However over the course of the series, Tokiya becomes somewhat more merciful and lenient, something he believes is a result of letting people become close to him. Part in Story Background Tokiya's parents died when he was young, leaving him in the care of his older sister, Mifuyu. They were moved from different homes and shelters to another, but eventually Mifuyuu managed to find themselves a place of their own. Even though things were a bit rough, they loved each other very much and didn't mind if they were a bit poor. Some of the things he learned from his sister was that he needed to study hard and eventually graduate from a university, and in doing so be able to help her. However, those simple and happy days they spent together were brought to an abrupt end. Two thugs raided their apartment, intending to steal the Mikagami family heirloom, Ensui. While protecting both the heirloom and her brother, Mifuyu was stabbed in the back. When the paramedics arrived and placed Mifuyu on a stretcher, she entrusted him with Ensui. She said that he should protect it, and that it would protect him in return. With that, Mifuyu passed away. At that point, Tokiya's mind was consumed with thoughts of avenging his sister. These vengeful thoughts led him to a renowned swordsman named Meguri Kyoza, and asked him to teach him how to kill people. Meguri revealed the true nature of Ensui to Tokiya, and showed that it was could form a blade out of water and could control all the forms of water (solid, liquid, and gas). He revealed that he could teach Tokiya how to utilize Ensui for he was a master of Hyomon Ken; a fighting style attributed to Ensui's power. He took in Tokiya as his apprentice. It took Tokiya roughly seven years to master Hyoumon Ken. Afterward, he left Meguri's hermitage in the mountains and traveled to the city. He enrolled in Nashikiri High School, which is the same school that Recca Hanabishi, Fuuko Kirisawa, and Domon Ishijima were enrolled in. Tokiya excelled at academics, and a teacher went as far as to say that it would be no problem for him to get into a prestigious college such as Tokyo University. Encountering Recca Hanabishi Tokiya found out about Recca through the intervention of Kagerou (a.k.a. Kage Houshi). He had been observing Recca for some time, but it wasn't until Recca nearly ran into him at school that they met face to face. Tokiya regarded Recca with disdain, but was immediately distracted by the arrival of Yanagi Sakoshita, who closely resembled the late Mifuyu. Later on, Tokiya confronted Recca and defeated him in a quick battle, saying that Recca should stay away from Yanagi because his presence endangered her. Since Recca was defeated and because he remembered that Yanagi did indeed get hurt because of him in the past (Kage Houshi had wounded her arm in a previous encounter), he gave in to what Tokiya was saying and distanced himself from Yanagi. Yanagi was heartbroken when Recca refused her offer to go with him to an amusement park. Tokiya took the tickets just as she about to tear them up, and offered to go with her instead. As they were leaving the campus, Recca spotted the two of them together, but he didn't even say hello to Yanagi at all. Devastated, Yanagi began to cry. As Tokiya tried to comfort her, he admitted to himself that he felt bad for separating the two of them, but the instinct to protect Yanagi was too strong. After enjoying a bit of the amusement park, Tokiya noticed that Recca was in the amusement park, looking for them. He then took Yanagi to his favorite part of the park, the Mirror House. Tokiya told her about his past, and that he looked so much like his sister. He suddenly cut Yanagi's hair, saying that it made her look more like Mifuyu (Mifuyu's hair was short; it barely reached her shoulders, while Yanagi's reached her waistline). Recca eventually found them there, and after an intense battle, Tokiya was defeated. Recca swore that he would protect his "princess" Yanagi as her loyal "ninja," and if he failed to do so, he would kill himself. Tokiya laughed at Recca's mentality, but said that there would be no need for Recca to kill himself if he failed, because Tokiya would do it for him. Mori Mansion Arc Yanagi was eventually kidnapped by Kurei's henchmen, and was brought to Mori Kouran's mansion. Initially it was just Fuuko, Recca, and Domon that infiltrated the mansion to rescue her, but Tokiya arrived in the nick of time to save them from a trap. The three would-be rescuers weren't too grateful, because Tokiya insulted them so much in the process; calling them a monkey, a sea monkey, and a gorilla respectively. He battled with and defeated the young Kaoru Koganei, and eventually caught up with the others as they battled Kurei. Kurei, however, was a very difficult opponent to deal with, and the four of them would have been destroyed if not for the unleashing of Recca's Flame Dragons. The gang managed to rescue Yanagi and escape the mansion as it collapsed. Ura Butou Satsujin Arc During the battle with Kurei, Kage Houshi had revealed herself to be an ally and not an opponent, so after the whole Mori Mansion affair, she invited Recca and the others (including Tokiya) to her home so that they could learn more about the Hokage ninja and Kurei. Tokiya had practically slept through the entire story Kage Houshi (now known as Kagerō) was relating to them, and only woke up when three of Kurei's henchmen were approaching the house. The team managed to defeat them rather easily, as the three were not as skilled and as attuned with their Madōgu compared to Tokiya and his comrades. Their failed battle against Kurei made the team want to become stronger in order to defeat him, so they all set off to train. When they met up again, two of Kurei's henchmen arrived and informed them that they were invited to participate in the Ura Butou Satsujin; a tournament wherein teams would battle against one another, and the losers had to give up their madogu to the winners. The first round of the Ura Butou Satsujin pitted Tokiya against Daikoku of Team Kuu. Although his girlish appearance earned negative comments from the audience, Tokiya defeated Daikoku and destroyed his madougu. After this battle, he watched the other battles closely in order to learn from them (in matches wherein their team wasn't participating, he'd go watch the matches for the sake of learning more about their opponents). During the second round wherein Hokage was up against Uruha Maboroshii, Koganei joined their team, defecting from Uruha. Kaoru won his initial match against Shiju, but his next opponent, Mokuren Nagai, tricked him and consumed him as Mokuren transformed into a giant tree. Recca was angered by this underhanded tactic and rushed in to save Koganei, but Tokiya stopped him, for he knew that if Recca were to use his flame against Mokuren, he would burn both Mokuren AND Koganei. Using the Hyomon Ken style's Zettai Reido (Absolute Zero) technique, he froze Mokuren through his roots and managed to rescue Koganei. The night before the third round, Yanagi woke up in the middle of the night, wanting to find Recca (who was training at the time). Tokiya agreed to help her look for him, and as they were walking, Yanagi accidentally wounded her finger. Tokiya sucked a bit of the blood out of her finger because he didn't want it to get infected. Recca immediately jumped at Tokiya and kicked him, accusing him of being a vampire and eventually insulting his "obsession" with his sister. Offended, Tokiya punched Recca, and they ended up in a fist fight. The following day, Uruha Oto's captain, Neon, sensed the tension between the two boys and proposed that they have a double bout wherein two players from each side would face one another, knowing that it would be difficult for Recca and Tokiya to work together. But in the middle of the match, Domon and Fūko intervened, reminding the two of them why they were fighting and how important it was to work together. Due to this intervention, Domon's previous victory over Uruha Oto's Aki was forfeited. This drove Recca and Tokiya to work together, and were gaining the upper hand in the battle, but Neon invoked Requiem; her ultimate technique capable of destroying the whole arena. Tokiya delivered a devastating attack with Hyomon Ken's Tsurara Mai, breaking Neon's madougu and endangering her life (she was about to fall and be impaled on several large icicles). Recca's determination to save her impressed the Flame Dragon Madoka, and through this dragon's power to form unbreakable force fields, he rescued Neon. Their next battle in the semifinals was against Uruha Ma, led by Magensha. Tokiya was concerned about his injuries worsening if he participated in the round, so he decided to sit it out and act as a guest announcer (alongside Nemi, who - coincidentally - has a huge crush on him). When Koganei was severely injured in his match against Tsukishiro, Tokiya brought him to the infirmary. After this round, as Tokiya was signing some autographs for Nemi, he suddenly sensed that his sister's murderer was nearby. During the final match against Uruha Kurenai (led by Kurei), Tokiya battled Kai, a Hyomon Ken master who had also studied under Meguri Kyouza. Kai wielded a weapon called Hyoma En, which also controlled water but focused more on the solid form of water than the others. This weapon was created by the evil madougu-maker, Kaima, and it fed on human blood. Kai had claimed that he was Mifuyu's murderer, and this provoked Tokiya. During the latter part of the fight, Tokiya unleashed an attack that he made up himself, the Tsuranaru Hebi (Icicle-formed Snake), but Kai used his own defensive tactic, the Tokekkai (Ice Barrier), which successfully blocked the Tsuranaru Hebi. Thinking that the Tsuranaru Hebi had used up all of Ensui's water, he then proceeded to stab Tokiya, only to find out that Tokiya had used his blood to perform the technique Mizu Kugutsu (Water Puppet) to create an illusion of himself. Tokiya was actually behind Kai, and he used Ensui to deliver a blow through Kai's shoulder down to his stomach. Both fighters collapsed, but Kai managed to stand up, thus defeating Tokiya due to the fact that the latter failed to stand up before the countdown ended. Tokiya then stated that he knew that Kai wasn't his sister's killer, because he couldn't sense any evil within him. Kai told Tokiya how he craved for revenge because their master looked down on him so much (calling Tokiya "gold" and Kai a "worthless rock"), and advised him not to become someone who prioritized revenge over everything, as it would lead him to his doom. As a final word, he told Tokiya that it was Meguri Kyouza who killed Mifuyu, and then allowed himself to fall into the bottomless pit below the arena. Tokiya was distraught hearing that it was his teacher who had killed his sister. However, Yanagi managed to make him smile as she healed his wounds. In the end, after Kurei and Recca's intense battle that destroyed the entire stadium, the Hokage team emerged victorious. Sealed Lands Arc After the tournament, Tokiya paid a visit to Meguri Kyouza's old hermitage. However, the hut was in complete wreck and he couldn't find anything that would lead him to his master's whereabouts. Later on, he later saved Koganei from an attacker calling himself Kamui. Eventually the Hokage team regrouped at Kagerou's hideout, and learned about Tendou Jigoku, the most evil madougu that preserved the soul of the creator of all the other evil madougu that were counterparts of normal madougu (examples: Kai's Hyouma En was the counterpart of Tokiya's Ensui, while Raiha's Raijin was the counterpart of Fuuko's Fuujin). The Tendou Jigoku was said to give its owner eternal life, and eternal life was precisely what Mori Kouran was obsessing with. Joker of the Uruha Jyuushinshu arrived to aid them in their search for Tendou Jigoku, and they headed off to the Sealed Lands. Within the Sealed Lands (which is composed of a lot of caves and tunnels), they met zombies who were cursed by the Tendou Jigoku. Their pain and longing for death drove them to beg Recca to kill them, but he hesitated to do so. Tokiya stepped forward instead, and froze the zombies so their bodies would be numbed and that they could forget their pain until the team destroyed Tendou Jigoku. Further into the cave, the team decided to split up into two groups: Recca, Domon, and Yanagi in one; Fuuko, Tokiya, and Koganei in the other. While Tokiya's group was jumping to cross an underground river, someone threw a throwing knife at Koganei's foot, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the river. Tokiya eventually jumped into the water to rescue him, but ended up somewhere else. Upon emerging from the water, he heard someone crying, and upon investigating, he met a frail girl who claimed to have been abused by the perverted Mokuren. She begged him to let her tag along, and he let her. Eventually, the girl stabbed her from behind, but he already knew that it was her, so all she ended up stabbing was an illusion formed using Mizu Kugutsu. The girl revealed her true identity; she was Mikoto, Fuuko's opponent in the finals of Ura Butou Satsujin. Mokuren eventually arrived to aid Mikoto (it turns out that they were lovers). Mikoto tried to attack Tokiya using her madogu (a large puppet that she could control from the inside), but Tokiya defeated her with just one stab to the puppet's abdomen. Mikoto crawled out of the puppet absolutely terrified and shaken, because Tokiya's blade missed her by a few centimeters. Mokuren tried to defeat Tokiya by disguising himself as one of his wooden plant puppets and having all of them attack him at the same time, but Tokiya managed to figure out which one Mokuren was. He threw Ensui right at Mokuren's chest, saying that it was very easy to spot him because he was just hiding behind his puppets without really attacking. The two lovers begged Tokiya to spare them, and he did (all the while he was thinking that his being merciful was a result of the Hokage team "poisoning his mind"). Just after that, a member of Ura Uruha named Aoi appeared, and defeated Tokiya. Captured, Tokiya was later bound to a crucifix and used by the Ura Uruha member Kirin as a hostage to stop Recca, Yanagi, and Koganei from passing through. She told them that Domon had probably died when he fell into a deep crevice earlier on, and Fuuko must be worse off because she had fallen into the clutches of an Ura Uruha whose madougu was a large jar wherein he kept his captives until they went insane. However, Domon appeared and brought morale back to the group. Koganei successfully rescued Tokiya and Yanagi healed him, as Recca and Domon fought against Kirin. Domon won in the end (in the most peculiar and perverted way). The team proceeded, and was later by Fuuko, who had been rescued by Raiha. Upon reaching the Tendou Jigoku, Tokiya thought about the possibility that Tendou Jigoku would choose Recca as its master because of his strength, and it turned out that the Tendou Jigoku DID offer its power to Recca. Recca turned it down, so it offered its strength to Mori Kouran instead. After Tendou Jigoku merged with Mori Kouran, it turned him into an indestructible monster. Kurei arrived and joined in the fight against Tendou Jigoku (but he had to remind Recca that despite they had a mutual opponent, that didn't mean they were friends). Recca urged the other Hokage members to leave as he, Fuuko, and Kurei remained to try to beat Tendou Jigoku. Tokiya, Domon, Koganei, and Yanagi (Yanagi had fainted previously, so she had to be carried) made their way through the cave, and got lost. The zombies Tokiya had frozen earlier on pointed the way out to them, and they managed to make it outside. Recca and Fuuko eventually came out of the cavern alive, and said that Kurei had probably managed to get out alive too. SODOM Saga The Hokage team had no idea as to what Mori Kouran's plans were after their encounter in the Sealed Lands. Kagerou told them that she could locate him with her madogu, but she couldn't say how long it would take, so she said that the group should just continue with their normal lives for the time being. Tokiya was beginning to change at this point; he acted less cold toward his classmates and actually argued with Fuuko in public. There was a new transfer student named Kagura Aoi, whom Tokiya thought he had seen before, but he was unable to pinpoint when and where. Having a bad feeling about Aoi, he conducted research about her origins. The school she attended before had no data about her, and the apartment that Aoi had claimed to be her residence had no telephone connection at all and was empty when Tokiya actually went over to visit. Tokiya had asked Yanagi's friends and housekeeper where she was, but they all said that "she's out with a friend, but we don't know who." Based on all of this information, Tokiya suspected that Aoi was a spy sent by Mori Kouran, and that it was possible that she had used a madogu that had something to do with erasing memories to make them forget who she was. Tokiya set off with Recca and Koganei to look for Yanagi, but when they arrived at the area where Aoi and Yanagi were, Hiruko (an opponent whose madogu utilizes blood) arrived and stalled them long enough for Aoi to successfully kidnap Yanagi. Back in Kagerou's hideout, the team learned that the upcoming battle might be the final one. Recca told his teammates that they could go do what they wanted to do for 3 days, and decide for themselves if they wanted to join him or not. Tokiya visited Mifuyu's grave during this time, where he got a chance to communicate with Mifuyu. She made fun of his long hair, saying that it made him look like a girl. Tokiya then said that he kept it long as part of a vow he made, and that he'd cut it short someday. She reminded him that he was strong, and that his friends respected him. He eventually decided to join Recca in the final battle. Upon arriving at SODOM, the team split up to find discs that would unlock the way to where Yanagi was. Tokiya fought against Hiruko one on one. During the bout, Hiruko kept on testing Tokiya if he was still obsessed with avenging his sister. Tokiya showed his resolve and made it clear that he wasn't fighting solely for revenge. Hiruko eventually lost interest in the battle and forfeited, urging him to keep on searching for the truth behind his sister's murder. Tokiya proceeded to his next destination, a house owned by a woman named Marie. When she offered him some tea, Tokiya acted suspicious, so she drank the tea to prove his suspicions wrong. Sensing no evil emanating from her, Tokiya concluded that she was just a normal woman and that it probably wouldn't hurt to drink the tea. After drinking the tea, Tokiya collapsed and later found himself strapped in a strange contraption. It turns out that the tea wasn't poisoned, but the rim of the cup was (except for a small portion that only Marie knew about so that she could sip from it without getting drugged herself). Marie began calling Tokiya 'John', and considered him to be her new 'pet'. Domon came along and was also offered the tea, but after drinking it, the drug had no effect on him. Tokiya then figured out that Domon had probably drunk from the exact same spot where Marie had sipped the tea with the intentions of getting an "indirect kiss" from her. Although this was a bit of a nasty habit on Domon's part, it still prevented him from getting drugged. Marie then called for her husband/slave, Pochi, to fight Domon with her. Recca arrived to aid Domon, and they managed to defeat Marie and Pochi and save Tokiya. As the team met up again and managed to get through to the next area, they had to split up once more. Tokiya then encountered Meguri Kyoza, who was bound by chains on the ground. Tokiya insisted that Meguri answer his questions about his sister's death, but Meguri ordered Tokiya to release his bonds and have a swordfight with him. For every blow Tokiya could land on him, Meguri would tell him one truth. The battle proved to be difficult for Tokiya because apart from the fact that they were evenly matched, he considered Meguri to be his "second father", and didn't want to have to hurt him. Eventually, Tokiya unleashed Hyounaru Hebi, which wrapped itself around Meguri to keep him at bay as Tokiya destroyed Meguri's weapon (Meguri was wielding the Hyoma En). Meguri admitted defeat, and told Tokiya the entire truth regarding him and Mifuyu's death. Meguri Kyoza was merely a title that was passed on from one Hyomon Ken master to another. In truth, this Meguri Kyoza was Tokiya's grandfather. Hyomon Ken was a technique that had to be passed on from one master to one student, but since his son (Tokiya's father) died, he had no choice but to pass it on to Tokiya. Mifuyu refused to allow him to do so, because Tokiya was still too young and she did not wish for him to be exposed to violence. She then offered to learn Hyomon Ken in his stead, and thus Ensui was passed on to her. Both the Ensui and Hyoma En belonged to the Mikagami clan, and knowing the potential of these two weapons, Kurei sent two of the weaker members of Uruha to try to steal the madogu from Mifuyu. Mifuyu was killed in the process, and Meguri arrived too late to save her. He killed the two thugs, but blamed himself entirely for Mifuyu's death. Had he not forced them to uphold the tradition of passing Hyomon Ken on, Mifuyu would not have been killed. He urged Tokiya to kill him and avenge Mifuyu, but Tokiya refused to do so, saying that Mifuyu would have understood, and that she would have forgiven him for everything that had happened. Meguri noted that Tokiya's "ice had melted", and Tokiya admitted that this was because of the support and influence of his friends. Meguri was finally able to free himself from the guilt that had burdened him for such a long time, and he died in peace. Tokiya vowed that he would never take up the name "Meguri Kyoza", and that the passing on of Hyomon Ken would end with him. Tendou Jigoku (the combined forms of Kaima, Mori Kouran, and the madogu itself) had already awakened and was doing battle with the rest of the team when Tokiya arrived. Aoi had erased Yanagi's memories previously, and was not fully conscious of what was going on. Aoi tried to restore Yanagi's memories, but the madogu he (Aoi revealed his true gender during a battle with Recca) was using broke. The team was no match for Tendou Jigoku's power, and all of them were knocked down. Tendou Jigoku got a hold of Yanagi, intending to devour her to absorb her powers of healing and gain true immortality. Yanagi's friends all stood up and called out to her, and this was enough to bring her out of her trance. Recca managed to get her away from Tendou Jigoku, but they were actually too late, for Tendou Jigoku had successfully managed to kill her by drawing her soul away from her body. Recca was forced to use the power of the dragon Resshin to take Yanagi's soul and merge it with his flame. Yanagi's healing powers (which also nullifies the powers of and destroys madogu) combined with Recca's flame, and they managed to destroy Tendo Jigoku, but also destroyed all the other madogu in the process. Yanagi's spirit returned to her body after this, and everything was finally over and done with. In the days to follow, Tokiya's personality had changed, and he no longer acted as cold as he used to. As the story ends, Tokiya found himself resuming life without thinking of revenge. Abilities and Techniques Keen Intellect: Tokiya is a very intelligent person and the smartest of the Hokage. He is considered smart enough to easily get into Tokyo University(which is considered the most prestigious university in Japan). Tokiya is also incredibly observant in battle, as seen when he correctly deduced how to stop Daikoku's staff attacks, how to paralyze Mokuren's movements in order to save Kaoru, as well as figuring out the way Neon's attacks work after seeing them only once. He is also quite fast, as seen when he dodged and reacted to Neon's attacks, which were sound based. Master Swordsman: Tokiya is a master of swordsmanship, possessing flawless precision and performing lethal attacks with little effort. Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Tokiya is a very fast and agile fighter. Ichigo possesses great reflexes, dodging a strike with no wasted effort and immediately counterattacking.He can strike quickly, without warning, and in rapid succession. Enhanced Endurance: While not having the most imposing appearance compared to the other fighters, Tokiya is a very resilient fighter. During his fight against Kai, despite gaining severe injuries, he continued fighting effectively, even ignoring his wounds to the point where he seemed unfazed by them. Ensui Ensui (Dark Water) is Tokiya's sword madōgu. It's a sword handle with a stone at the tip with the kanji symbol for "Water" written on it. Ensui's blade is formed by stabilizing water molecules, therefore it can take the attributes of each state of water. Any liquid can be used to form its blade and thus more than water can be used to form the blade as seen with Tokiya's blood sword. With its ability to use the three states of water Ensui is a very versatile madōgu. The main one used is the liquid state, water. The water is stabilized and solidified into a blade. The next state used is gas where the water is converted into steam. The steam is used to hide and obscure the vision of the enemy. The third state used is solid where everything Ensui touches freezes becomes ice. Ensui's power is limited by the fact that it can and will run out of water. Tokiya often uses a relatively small amount of water for Ensui's blade, such as the amount of water in a small mineral water bottle, but has also used a large amount of water from a swimming pool. Ensui is one of the "good" madōgu created by Kokū. Its "evil" counterpart is called Hyōma En, created by Kaima. In the English Dub, The Ensui has its name called the Ice Crest Sword which it was called by both Tokiya and Kai during the dub. Hyōmon Ken The particular fighting style used with Ensui is called "Hyōmon Ken", which is a technique that has to be passed on from master to student. Traditionally, there should only be one heir to the technique, but Kyōza Meguri trained both Tokiya and Kai. In the manga, the main reason why Kai wanted to kill Tokiya at during the Ura Butō Satsujin is the fact that Kyōza Meguri would often compare him to Tokiya, calling him a "rock" and Tokiya "gold." References Category:Characters Category:Hokage Category:Male